AUSTIN – A proposal making its way through the Texas Legislature could require most public schools to start each school year on the same day.
State Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, filed Senate Bill 2928 last month and presented it to the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday. The bill was left pending by the committee, meaning that it needs to pick up steam quickly for a chance at becoming law before the end of the session next month.
Several San Antonio business representatives testified in support.
The bill would require the vast majority of school districts to begin classes on the third Wednesday in August.
The requirement would apply to school districts designated as Districts of Innovation, which is more than 90% of districts in Texas.
KSAT checked this list of current innovation districts and most, if not all, of the districts in San Antonio and our surrounding area on the list.
Innovation districts San Antonio/surrounding area:
- Alamo Heights ISD
- Bandera ISD
- Blanco ISD
- Boerne ISD
- Comal ISD
- Cotulla ISD
- Devine ISD
- Eagle Pass ISD
- East Central ISD
- Edgewood ISD
- Floresville ISD
- Fort Sam Houston ISD
- Fredericksburg ISD
- Goliad ISD
- Gonzales ISD
- Harlandale ISD
- Hondo ISD
- Judson ISD
- Karnes City ISD
- Kerrville ISD
- La Pryor ISD
- La Verina ISD
- Lackland ISD
- Laredo ISD
- Lytle ISD
- Medina ISD
- Medina Valley ISD
- Natalia ISD
- Navarro ISD
- New Braunfels ISD
- Nixon-Smiley CISD
- North East ISD
- Northside ISD
- Poteet ISD
- Poth ISD
- Randolph Field ISD
- Sabinal ISD
- San Antonio ISD
- Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD
- Seguin ISD
- Shiner ISD
- South San Antonio ISD
- Southside ISD
- Southwest ISD
- Uvalde CISD
- Yoakum ISD
Creighton told committee members he filed the bill because the state loses an estimated $1 billion every week school is in session in August. A unified school start date would help the state save money, encourage teacher pay raises and help teachers fund instructional items, he said.
“Senate Bill 2928 offers supports for students’ development beyond the classroom,” Creighton said. “Small businesses often employ high school students during the summer, giving them valuable workforce experience that enhances both academic growth and career readiness. Parents, teachers and businesses all benefit from a more consistent and reliable school calendar.”
Charter schools would not be impacted by the bill.
Businesses supporting SB 2928
Several San Antonio-area businesses testified in favor of SB 2928 because it would allow them to plan better and potentially generate more tourism revenue.
Texas Travel Alliance
“An earlier school start date is particularly impactful to [small and large] businesses in Texas, with, as the chairman mentioned, over a billion dollars in lost economic activity for every week we’re starting earlier in August and almost 7500 jobs lost as well,” Texas Travel Alliance President Erica Boyd said. “This significant economic loss underscores the importance of policies that support the travel and tourism industry and its contributions to our state economy.”
Visit San Antonio
“SB 2928 helps cities like San Antonio plan, market and deliver meaningful summer experiences,” Visit San Antonio Director Justin Munoz said. “This keeps Texas competitive with other states that preserve a full summer season.”
San Antonio Zoo
”As a member of both of the formal and informal Texas education, we see and understand the importance of a program learning environment,“ San Antonio Zoo CEO and Deputy Director Jesse Vargas said.
Landry’s Inc.
“The August time frame, as mentioned previously, is very crucial, not only to the revenue stream that many of us have spoken about, but also to those employees that we represent. That time of the year tends to get shorter and shorter and their ability to make income is definitely affected in a negative manner,” said Carlton Quick, Director for Landry’s, which oversees the Tower of the Americas.
The full state Senate committee meeting can be seen here.
More recent Texas Legislature coverage on KSAT:
